Doodlebug history

Reporter: Kevin Burke
Date online: 25 January 2011

‘Doodlebug’ was the name of a bomb which landed on Chapel Street in Tottington destroying both lives and homes.

Bury Focus reporter Kevin Burke has been researching the Doodlebug to find out more…
The bomb killed 6 people and injured 9 in Tottington. It landed on Christmas Eve of 1944. The bomb also known as the V1 was fired in the endless Nazi aerial bombing campaign.

And at 5.50am, the Tottington Doodlebug landed on Chapel Street, destroying a row of cottages alongside these innocent civilian lives.

The invasion of Normandy by the Brits had already taken place and Nazi launch sites had been overrun by the Allies, so these bombs were launched from the North Sea.

In an act the Brits would repeat themselves countless times over Germany; bombs were indiscriminately dropped onto cities. In total, 45 bombs were launched on Christmas Eve, with 31 reaching the UK. 15 of these bombs hit Manchester districts. Only one bomb was even more fatal, killing 27 and seriously injuring 49 in Abbey Hills Road, Oldham.

The Bolton Evening News reported on the attack on Tottington, with photographs showing the destruction to the properties. The name of the town was not mentioned as part of Churchill’s campaign of disinformation. To name the town would let the Nazis know how effective their bombs were, how accurate they were, and how to better aim them next time.

These bombs were designed to target civilians. They had very little navigation and it was almost chance where they would land. They were called Vergeltungswaffen 1, roughly translated as ‘reprisal weapons 1’ or ‘retaliatory weapons 1’ and were used tactically to terrorise civilians and displace the populace. Most were aimed at London and other major cities, and sleepy Tottington was probably hit by one that had gone astray.

The V1 was known as a ‘Doodlebug’ because of the buzzing noise its engine made when it was flying through the air. This would cut out as the bomb went into free-fall, unintentionally warning civilians on the ground that it was about to blow up.

Whitehead Gardens were built on the site of this tragedy, with donations from the Whitehead family, in remembrance of those who died. One can only hope, even after 65 years, that they were all unaware, asleep, and died instantly.

They were: 

• Mr Nicholas Conway, 50, a dye-plant worker, and his wife Mary Ann, 48, both died at home in 19 Chapel Street. 
• Miss Annie Greenalgh, 75, died at home in 21 Chapel Street.
• Elizabeth Hodgkinson Draper, 55, died at home in 31 Chapel Street.
• Mr James Dyson, 52, and his wife Teresa Dyson, from Bulwell, Nottingham, were visiting Teresa's sister for Christmas. They died in 33 Chapel Street. 

The following people were injured:

• Miss Mary Conway
• Mrs Bertha Greenhalgh (died February 20th 1945)
• Mr Dewhurst Greenhalgh
• Mrs Midgley
• Miss Ethel Riley
• Mrs Hodges
• Mr Herbert Young
• Miss N Hamer
• Miss Ellen Barnes